Security and Encryption in the Cloud

Security and Encryption in the Cloud

Clicking the news section of any of the big tech sites will likely yield stories about how another company’s systems were breached by hackers, and how thousands of user accounts have been compromised. You may have even had your own Facebook, email or Twitter account hacked. According to Verizon Business’s latest study on data breach for the year 2011, 855 incidents occurred and 174 million records were compromised.

Hackers keep opening the digital doors to big companies and their data. CRN has gone so far as to make a list of the top breaches so far this year, not so subtly implying that there will be more. Customers and businesses are growing more concerned about which websites they can trust with their information, and for that matter, which data centers they can trust to store data.

The information kept on your company’s computer is the vital spark of your business. A business needs to be certain that data will be secure when putting it in someone else’s hands. This is especially true of the backups that compose part of a disaster recovery plan. Companies worry enough about onsite data being safe without having to worry about offsite data being secure.

When StorageCraft launches StorageCraft Cloud Services this fall, StorageCraft will utilize SAS 70 type II Certified data centers with the security measures necessary to keep backup images in the proper hands, and safe from the unforgiving ravages of nature.

Encryption in the Cloud:

StorageCraft ShadowProtect, our award-winning backup and disaster recovery solution, uses encryption technology to allow backup images to be encrypted at AES-256 bit bank-grade encryption. To keep all data safe, StorageCraft requires you to encrypt your data before it is sent to the StorageCraft cloud. Once encrypted and sent, backup images are stored in their encrypted state. This blog article will tell you how to select the level of encryption for your backup images.

Power:

Continuous power is provided by Uninterruptible Power Supply battery systems, with an N+1 emergency generator configuration to ensure that the servers function, and you have access, even in the event of major power outage.

Fire Protection:

FM2000 Gaseous Fire Fighting Systems protect the centers from fire, without damaging hardware. Gases used in this system meet environmental standards, and do not conduct electricity.

Storage Environment:

Full data-grade HVAC systems control and monitor temperature and humidity.

Physical Security:

Data is stored in encrypted form and guarded by security staff 24/7. Access to the data center is only granted by retinal and palm scan biometric verification systems. Additionally, remote management teams track all data center personnel and record and report any activity on the premises.

Access:

Multiple data centers connect to multiple carriers forming a fail-safe network. If for whatever reason (disaster, physical attack, etc.) the fiber line is damaged or cut, the network remains operational and your data will still be accessible.

According to Verizon’s study, 79 percent of victims were simply targets of opportunity, rather than choice. Of the victims, 96 percent of the attacks were not highly difficult for the hacker and for the most part, those attacked had easily exploitable weaknesses but were not pre-identified for attack.

With these security measures in place, your data will not be a target of opportunity and secure enough to deter even the most determined hackers, allowing you to remove offsite data security from your disaster recovery check-list.

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This online digest is dedicated to exploring BDR solutions and technology relevant to MSPs, VARs, and IT professionals.

The Recovery Zone is brought to you by StorageCraft, a company that has been producing software solutions for backup, disaster recovery, system migration, virtualization, and data protection for servers, desktops, and laptops since 2003.